Rafael Espinoza shocked Robeisy Ramirez for the WBO featherweight belt last December
Top Rank missed out on its chance to hold three of the four featherweight belts when Robeisy Ramirez and Otabek Kholmatov fell, but it seems they’re still committed to the division, as they’ve now signed WBO champion Rafael Espinoza to a “multi-fight co-promotional agreement” alongside Zanfer.
Espinoza (24-0, 20 KO) emerged from obscurity to topple Ramirez in one of 2023’s biggest upsets and most entertaining fights. He’s just two weeks away from his inaugural title defense, which pits him against another unheralded Mexican in Sergio Chirino Sanchez (22-1, 13 KO). Beyond easing the road towards a potential rematch with Ramirez, this signing opens a number of interesting doors for him, from a unification with IBF titlist Luis Alberto Lopez to a showdown with hot commodity and no. 4 contender Bruce Carrington.
He’ll of course have to get through Sanchez first, but suffice it to say that there’s reason to expect very good things in this division’s future.
Read the full article here
